FORTE 9 Documentation

Piano Roll Introduction

Piano Roll: An Introduction

The Piano Roll view displays notes as bars along a timeline, much like an old player piano. The up and down direction represents pitch, and the left and right direction represents measures (time). Since the piano roll is able to display the data more accurately with respect to how it is performed than standard music notation, it is a preferred method of editing MIDI for many people.

The Envelope View is another important view that is displayed in the same window as the Piano Roll. The Envelope View and the Piano Roll are aligned along the horizontal (e.g. time) axis. The Envelope View displays how various musical parameters -- such as volume, pan, reverb and tempo -- change with time. You can create and add new "envelopes" to describe how a chosen musical parameter behaves. The alignment of the two views allows you to synchronize the envelope with individual notes -- this is crucial when working with parameters such as pitch bend or modulation.